Daily Devotional
               Betty Miller shares her daily devotionals which are based on the book of Proverbs in the Bible.   

  The Wisdom of God

Verses for the Day:

Proverbs 12:1-3:(KJV): 
1 Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.
2 A good man obtaineth favour of the LORD: but a man of wicked devices will he condemn.
3 A man shall not be established by wickedness: but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.

Thoughts for the Day:

The book of Proverbs is a wonderful book of instruction in the knowledge of the Lord. Verse 1 tells us that those who love instruction will love the knowledge of the Lord.  We must remember that with all instruction comes reproof.  A good teacher instructs us in our learning, but a good teacher also corrects us when we make mistakes or when we are doing something that is wrong.  We should be most grateful that the Lord corrects us when we stray from His will. If we continued in a path of folly it would eventually destroy us. How does God correct or chasten us?  These verses in Hebrews 12 tell us that He deals with us as a father does with a son.

5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

The Lord corrects us the same way a good earthly father or a good school teacher corrects us.  A teacher will instruct us from a textbook and ask us to study so that we can pass the exams. If we are a good student, we will do our homework and apply the knowledge we learn and will be able to pass the test. The Lord has given us our teacher, the Holy Spirit, and our textbook, the Bible, in the same manner.  If we study and apply the Word of God to our lives, we will be able to pass the tests of life.  If we ignore the Word of God and try to do things our own way, we will experience suffering and heartache that God does not intend for us to go through.  We will reap the fruit of our sin that comes from our failure to obey the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.  

Because the Lord loves His children so much, He will help us when we get into trouble and show us the way out, if we seek Him and yield to His way. God does not put sickness on His children to teach us, nor does He send tragic accidents.  These things come from the devil.  All through the New Testament, we find Jesus healing all that came to Him.  He did not refuse one person who came to Him for healing or deliverance.  He never put things on people; He was always helping people get free and healing them.  We suffer under these things because of the devil, but Jesus came to redeem us from the works of the devil and unrighteousness. Verse 2 tells us when we accept Christ's goodness that we will have the favor of God in our lives.   Only wicked and sinful men are condemned, and that is because they refuse to repent and come to Jesus for deliverance.

Verse 3 declares that a man can never be established by wickedness.  The wicked are unstable. The Bible speaks of them in this manner in Isaiah 57:

20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
21 There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.

On the other hand, the righteous are like a strong tree that has deep roots and cannot be moved, even when drought or storms comes.

Jeremiah 17:7-8: "Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit."

Psalm 1:3: "And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."

Prayer for the Day:

Dear Heavenly Father, I am thankful for Your love and the favor that You have given me. I do thank You when You have corrected me, even though it was not pleasant, as I know You love me enough not to allow the enemy to destroy me.  Please continue to do Your work in my heart, as I do want to become like You, and I want You to remove those things that offend You.  Forgive me when I fail You.   I am grateful that I can call on Your mercy and grace when I am in trouble, and that You hear me and rescue me.  Give me a love for prayer and the word of God, so that my steps will not falter and I can walk in Your will.  Fill me with Your love this day so that I may bless those around me.  I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.